


floating, exploding

by katebishoop



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Arguing, Drabble, Gen, Keith (Voltron)-centric, Not klance, Quiet, Swimming, Swimming Pools, based off keith & lance in bathing suits from the trailer, but not enough to warrant a legit tag, mentions of shiro and hints of sheith
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-17
Updated: 2017-01-17
Packaged: 2018-09-18 05:38:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,197
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9370544
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/katebishoop/pseuds/katebishoop
Summary: Keith likes the quiet. He likes the quiet the castle's pool grants him.Lance's cannonball blows that apart that in more ways than one.





	

Keith liked the quiet.  
  
The Garrison barracks were never quiet, there was always this mechanical hum that itched it's way under his skin. The desert was better - he got moments of true, uninterrupted stillness, but it weighed heavy on him, the absence of noise and the absence of Shiro.  
  
There is a place he'd go to in the desert sometimes - far past the cave with where they had found the Blue Lion - there was a river. Or rather, the remnant of a river. It had nearly dried up, it was so thin. But it was still deep enough that he could float. Keith would strip and lay in the cool water, lean back and dip his ears under the surface. Even the smallest noise would disappear with the water, drowning out even his own heartbeat.  
  
It was dangerous for him to do this at night - he couldn't do it for long, he could get hypothermia, but he didn't care. At night in this river, he could pretend that he was up in space - in the vast quiet, floating weightlessly, staring up at the stars, and the planets.  
  
Kerberos was too far to see though, just out of reach.  
  
The Castle of Lions had the same quality as the Garrison - the building was alive, always breathing, always making a sound. The training deck, the library - he enjoyed those, he had some alone time there where he could drown out the noise, but it wasn't the same.  
  
Then he found the pool.  
  
Neither Allura or Coran had given them a proper tour. In the wee hours of the morning, when Keith couldn't sleep, he'd wander the castle. He'd always pass Shiro's room, sit there in front for a few minutes, at some point in the night. That's how he had found the library, that's how he began to learn Altaen.  
  
It's also how he found the pool, tucked away in a lower corner of the ship. It was shaped like an oval, and the water had a faint pink tinge to it - but it didn't burn him. It had the same consistency of water, but whatever was added it definitely wasn't chlorine.  
  
But the room had a large window that you could see the stars out of.  
  
Keith found himself more often than not in that pool. He didn't tell any of the others - they would find it eventually, and who knows what would happen when Lance found it.  
  
It was almost like he was back in the desert - but a few key things were different: he didn't recognize a single constellation, the water was pink and deeper, and Shiro was here.  
  
It was infinitely better.  
  
He made it apart of his routine to swim every morning. He'd get up before the castle woke and do laps, float, and lately he'd been training himself to hold his breath from his seat and the bottom of the pool (which was seven feet deep from his best estimate, he couldn't read Altean numbers quiet yet, they were rather tricky).  
  
His current record was two minutes. He was shooting to get to two and a half today.  
  
_Two-Twenty-Two, Two-Twenty Three, Two-Twenty-Four..._  
  
It was just him and the weightlessness.  
  
_Two-Thirty-Three, Two-Thirty-Four, Two-Thirty Five..._  
  
This was the only place in the entire castle that wasn't clouded in a machine's hum.  
  
_Two-Forty-Four, Two-Forty-Five, Two-Forty-Six..._  
  
Keith was suddenly thrown by a shift in the water. Water entered his lungs, and he was spluttering, choking. He pushed himself off the floor of the pool and swam up.  
  
The sudden shift in pressure made a popping noise in his ears, he gasped for air.  
  
"JESUS - What the-"  
  
_Lance._  
  
Just what he needed to start the morning.  
  
"What were you doing down there like - like some kind of troll?"  
  
Keith wiped the water out of his eyes, his gaze landing firmly on Lance.  
  
"Trolls don't live underwater. They live in the Fjords."  
  
Lance looked at him like Keith was some kind of alien.  
  
Pfft, to Lance he was.  
  
Lance shook his head. "Whatever - race you to the other end of the pool." Then he shot off in the other direction.  
  
Keith didn't follow - his morning peace had been shattered, and there was no point in staying any further.  
  
He was already out of the pool and drying himself off when Lance noticed Keith hadn't followed.  
  
"Hey! What gives?" Lance swam back to the end of the pool Keith was on. Keith had to give him credit - Lance was an excellent swimmer, fast too, even if his form was off. "Too scared?"  
  
"You wish." Keith mumbled as he tussled the towel around his head, drying his hair off.  
  
"Oh I see." Lance's voice drawled out - and when that happens, Keith knows what's going to happen. "Knew you couldn't beat me so you wanted to save yourself the embarrassment. Just like before, dropping out when things get tough-"  
  
"Why does everything have to be a competition with you?" Keith blurted out then.  
  
Lance blinked at him. He couldn't tell if Lance was blushing, or if that was just the faint pink glow of the water reflecting off his skin.  
  
"Why does everything have to be a competition with you?" Lance spluttered out. "You-"  
  
"You antagonize me!" Keith stepped to the edge of the pool, towering over Lance. "Ever since we met you've been throwing shit at me." Keith is seething. He's used to people being enemies, to putting him down, to stepping on him. But with Lance it's like a game. Like he's trying to rile Keith up for the sake of it. "I don't know what your problem is, but get over it."  
  
Keith turned around, the sound of splashes from Lance getting out of the pool following.  
  
"My problem?"  
  
_What are you, a parrot?_  
  
"You're the one acting all _high and mighty_  like you're better than everyone else-"  
  
"Are you still mad about the Garrison?" Keith was astonished, really. "None of that matters anymore but - _whatever_. I got kicked out- it doesn't _matter._ We have bigger problems to worry about than your g _od damn inferiority complex_."

 

Lance was for once at loss for words, Keith doubt he would here them over the ringing in his ears anyway.

 

Keith took a step back, trying to even out his breathing. He had hit below the belt, he knew that, but he wasn't going to apologize. Lance had started this, so that's what he got.

 

 

 

Lance mumbled something in Spanish that Keith couldn't understand, but Keith assumed that Lance was cursing him out.

 

He was surprised then when he heard Lance sigh, and say his name for the first time without a hint of malice. "Look, Keith-"

 

Suddenly the alarm went off, Shiro's voice coming over the comm calling them up to the deck.

 

Lance looked at him for a second - any trace of before gone. "Last one to the bridge is a mullet head!" He yelled, his sentence trailing after him in the hall.

 

Keith sighed. 

 

This fued, or whatever they had got going on wasn't over. But there wasn't enough time for that now. Or even enough time to change before heading up.

 

_So much for peace and quiet._

**Author's Note:**

> [tumblr](http://bellakeyblake.tumblr.com)


End file.
